


Don't Tell

by SiriuslySherlocked



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Anxious Alphys (Undertale), Established Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), M/M, Mettaton (Undertale) Being an Asshole, Mettaton EX (Undertale), Papyrus (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Protective Sans (Undertale), Protective Undyne (Undertale), Punishment, Rape/Non-con Elements, Undyne (Undertale) Swears, Worried Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:08:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28966602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiriuslySherlocked/pseuds/SiriuslySherlocked
Summary: Papyrus has been acting off lately.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Mettaton/Papyrus (Undertale)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yo so this is a Papyton fic that's not so nice. The r*pe isn't written, just the very beginning of it is, nothing more than taking clothes off.

As soon as Papyrus walked through the door, Sans immediately knew something was off. That was even before he noticed the limping and the winces of pain with every step and the averted eyes.

“pap? what’s wrong, what happened to you?” Sans asked, jumping to his feet.

Papyrus shook his head. “NOTHING’S WRONG.” He attempted to escape upstairs to his room but Sans blocked his way. 

“yes there is. why are you limping?”

“I… I TRIPPED.”

“you tripped?”

“YES. UH, OVER THAT ANNOYING DOG. IT RAN IN FRONT OF ME AND I TRIPPED OVER IT. I’M, UH, GOING TO MY ROOM NOW TO… READ.” He tried to step around Sans, but Sans still wouldn’t let him leave.

“papyrus. i know something’s up. what’s wrong?”

“NOTHING’S WRONG, SANS!” Papyrus snapped, shoving his brother out of the way and scurrying up to his room.

Sans stumbled from the push, shocked. This wasn’t like Papyrus at all. Good thing he could teleport.

He popped into Papyrus’s room, and his worry only increased. Papyrus was face down on his bed, curled up in a tight ball. Sans could hear him crying quietly against his pillows. It was the sort of crying where Sans could tell Papyrus was trying hard to be as quiet as possible, which led to short, near-hyperventilating breaths and small sobs. 

“...pap?”

Papyrus shot up, wincing at his sudden movement but ignoring the pain and hastily wiping his tears. “SANS! GET OUT OF HERE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“papyrus you’re not okay. i’m not leaving you alone until you tell me what’s wrong,” Sans said stubbornly.

“NOTHING IS WRONG!!”

“papyrus you don’t just shove me, yell at me, and then curl up in your room and cry for no reason!”

“SANS IT’S PRIVATE. I JUST NEED TO BE ALONE. OKAY? JUST LEAVE ME ALONE… PLEASE,” Papyrus said more softly.

Sans sighed. “fine. but you know i’m always here if you need me, right? please, please come talk to me if something’s wrong. okay?”

Papyrus nodded, swallowing. “OKAY.”

Sans nodded back, and quietly left the room. He went to his own room, sitting on his mattress and trying to think of how he could ween the truth out. Maybe he could talk to Papyrus’s boyfriend, Mettaton. Hopefully he would know something.

* * *

He took a shortcut to Waterfall and over to Mettaton’s house, knocking on the door. The robot answered a moment later, adapting his gaze down to Sans’s short stature. “Oh, Sans. Did you need something?”

Sans and Mettaton had never been the biggest fans of each other, but they remained civil for Papyrus’s sake.

“yeah, it’s about papyrus,” Sans said, squeezing his way in through the doorway without asking. “he’s been acting really weirdly. he came home today limping and when i asked him what was up he wouldn’t tell me. i kept trying to get it out of him but then he just snapped at me and locked himself in his room. so like anyone else would, i took a shortcut in there, and he’s crying on the bed. and he still won’t tell me what’s wrong. so i thought maybe you might have an idea.”

“Hm, I’ll have a talk with him about it,” Mettaton said, although he didn’t sound too worried. “He can be a tad dramatic, you know. I’m sure he’s perfectly fine.”

“no, you didn’t see him. he was acting  _ way _ off. he wasn’t like himself at all,” Sans said. “this is something big. it’s important, it’s something we need to know about. maybe you can get through to him. or undyne, i’ll talk to her too.”

“Alright, well, I’ll speak to him about it tomorrow,” Mettaton said, still holding the door open.

“thanks,” Sans said, jogging out the door and over to Undyne’s house. He was a little offended that Papyrus wouldn’t talk to him first, but this wasn’t about him. He knocked on the door of the giant fish mouth that was Undyne’s residence, and watched as the jaws parted to reveal her. 

“Hey Sans, what’s up? Uh, I was gonna call you, actually. Papyrus didn’t show up for his lesson today, and he’s not answering his phone, either.”

“yeah, that’s what i came to talk to you about. he’s been acting weird with me, too,” Sans said, stepping into the house as Undyne moved aside to let him in. “he came home limping, and i asked him what was wrong, and he refused to tell me. i kept pushing and he pushed back,  _ literally _ , he shoved me out of the way and snapped at me that nothing was wrong and then ran up and locked himself in his room.”

“What? That doesn’t sound like him at all!” Undyne said, her eyebrows creasing in worry as she sat down.

“i know. and then i teleported into his room, obviously, and he was crying on his bed.”

Undyne shot up to her feet and summoned her spear. “THAT’S IT! ANYONE WHO MAKES PAPYRUS CRY IS DEAD!”

“i still don’t know what’s wrong, though! he won’t  _ fucking _ tell me,” Sans growled in frustration. “i already talked to mettaton and he didn’t know either. and i guess you don’t know.”

Undyne threw her spear down in anger. “NGAH! AS SOON AS I FIND OUT WHO OR WHAT DID THIS--”

“you and me both,” Sans mumbled. “i’ve never seen him like this before. i hate it.”

“Well, I’m going to go talk to him myself,” Undyne said determinedly. “Shortcut me to his room!”

Sans nodded, taking her hand and teleporting them both back into Papyrus’s room.

“PAPYRUS! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT BED AND TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG!” Undyne shouted, grabbing Papyrus by the arm and yanking him upright.

Papyrus startled and winced at the movement. “NYEH! UNDYNE--THAT HURT--”

“What do you mean it hurt?! Did missing ONE lesson make you soft?”

“NO…” Papyrus mumbled. “I’M SORRY I DIDN’T COME. I… SOMETHING CAME UP.”

“Sans told me everything! Why are you being so weird?! Who did this to you?! I’ll impale them, you know I will!”

Papyrus shook his head. “I’M FINE. NO ONE DID ANYTHING. I’M JUST… HAVING AN OFF DAY! YEAH!”

“NO YOU’RE NOT!” Undyne shouted indignantly. “TELL US WHAT’S WRONG!”

“NO!” Papyrus shouted back, lifting his hand up and shooting a bone attack at Undyne, who narrowly avoided it, caught off guard. 

“Papyrus!” She said in shock. “What the hell has gotten into you?!”

“JUST GO AWAY!” Papyrus insisted. “OR I’LL MAKE YOU!”

“The hell you will--”

“would you two shut up? undyne, this isn’t helping,” Sans said. “but seriously bro, you’re attacking us now?”

“I WOULDN’T HAVE TO IF YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE!”

Sans sighed, turning to Undyne. “this isn’t working. maybe if we just leave him be for a little bit and come back he’ll talk to us.”

“NO I WON’T,” Papyrus chimed in.

Sans took Undyne’s hand and teleported them back to her house. He ran his hand over his skull, sighing again. “i don’t know what to do. i’m not gonna be able to think about anything else until i know what’s up with him.”

“What did Mettaton say?” Undyne asked, looking just as exhausted and exasperated. 

“he said he’d talk to him tomorrow. maybe that’s for the best, maybe he’ll be ready to talk by then.”

But if anything, Papyrus would be even less ready to talk.


	2. Chapter 2

Papyrus slumped out of bed the next morning and peeked outside his door to make sure Sans wasn’t there before sneaking out of the house quietly. Shivering, but not from the cold, he made his way on foot to Mettaton’s house in Waterfall, not making any effort to hurry. Although walking hurt, he wanted to put off arriving as long as possible. He knocked on the door shakily, looking down at his feet as the door opened.

“Well hello darling,” Mettaton smiled, stepping aside to make room for Papyrus. “Come on in.”

“Thank you,” Papyrus whispered, shuffling inside.

“So, your brother came by yesterday,” Mettaton said, sitting on his bed. “He told me about how you were acting.”

Papyrus’s skeletal face paled somehow.

“He told me you pitched a little fit. He told me you were limping, too. And while I appreciate that you didn’t tell…” he pulled Papyrus onto the bed with him. “He still thinks something’s wrong. He saw you crying. And you know Sans. He won’t stop until he’s found out what’s going on.”

Papyrus nodded shakily.

“Do you know if he told anyone else about your behavior?” Mettaton questioned, sliding his arm around Papyrus’s waist.

Papyrus tensed up. “U-Undyne,” He whispered.

“Ooh, another dangerous and determined friend of yours. We can’t have her finding out either,” Mettaton said slyly. “Like I said, it’s good that you kept your cute little mouth shut, but they’re suspicious now, and that won’t do. You’ve got to clean up your act, love.”

Papyrus nodded again, staring straight ahead at the wall.

“And to reinforce that, I think another session is in order,” Mettaton continued, his fingers playing with the hem of Papyrus’s pants.

Papyrus whimpered. “Please… don’t…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go too hard this time. But you do know what’ll happen if you tell, right darling?”

Papyrus nodded. “Y-yes. I won’t tell.”

“Good, good. But there’s still a lesson to be taught,” Mettaton said, sliding Papyrus’s pants off and pushing him down against the bed.

Papyrus shut his eyes, and held his breath as he awaited his punishment.

-

When Sans woke up the next morning, he immediately barged into Papyrus’s room without knocking to see if he would be any more willing to talk. But he wasn’t there. He went downstairs instead, looking in the kitchen and the living room. “pap? where are you?”

He sighed. He wasn’t here. He pulled out his phone to call him, even though he doubted he’d get an answer. Surprisingly, someone picked up before the phone even got through its first ring.

“Hello?” Papyrus’s voice was hushed.

“papyrus! where have you--”

“Shh! Be quiet!” Papyrus hissed in a whisper. 

“why?”

“Just be quiet. Sans, can… can you come and get me? And hurry please. I’m at Mettaton’s house.” Papyrus’s voice was soft and shaky, like he was hiding from someone and trying to avoid their attention.

“uh, yeah, be right there,” Sans said, about to shortcut away before Papyrus spoke again.

“Don’t knock or anything. Just wait outside.”

“okay,” Sans said, hanging up as he teleported over to Mettaton’s house. 

Papyrus came tiptoeing out of the house a moment later, glancing behind him.

“papyrus, what--”

“Shh! Come on!” Papyrus dragged him away until they were out of sight from the house, before he slumped onto the ground, his eyes filling with tears. “It hurts…”

“what does? papyrus, tell me what’s wrong? is it mettaton? what’s he doing to you?”

“N-nothing… just take me home. Please.”

Sans sighed, nodding and getting them both back home, right into Papyrus’s room. Papyrus climbed fragilely into his bed, shaking worse than ever.

“papyrus. tell me what’s wrong. i know it’s serious. i won’t leave you alone until you tell me. you can attack me all you want, i’m not leaving.”

“I can’t tell you,” Papyrus whispered.

“why not?” Sans said in frustration. “what’s mettaton been doing to you? has he been hurting you? because i will  _ crush _ him--”

“NO PLEASE DON’T--don’t talk to him,” Papyrus said frantically.

“papyrus. what. has he. been doing to you?” Sans growled.

Papyrus’s breathing sped up until he was nearly hyperventilating, and Sans rushed over to him. “pap it’s okay. just talk to me, please.”

Papyrus shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “Mm-mm…”

“ _ please? _ ” Sans said desperately. “i’m really worried about you.”

“If I tell you he’ll…”

Sans’s attention sharpened at this tiny hint. “he’ll what?”

Papyrus just shook his head again, covering his mouth.

“okay. how about this. i’ll ask you some stuff and you can just nod yes or no. that way you’re not actually telling anything,” Sans said.

Papyrus nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“is it about mettaton?”

Nod.

“has he been hurting you?”

Hesitation, averted eyes, and eventually, a nod.

Sans grit his teeth. “physically? he’s why you’ve been limping?”

Papyrus nodded again, tears streaming down his cheekbones. 

“that’s all i need,” Sans said, his blue eye appearing as he prepared to go back to Mettaton’s house. 

“NO! PLEASE DON’T! SANS HE’LL BE SO ANGRY--”

“not if he’s dead,” Sans said darkly.

“NO! YOU CAN’T--HE’S GONNA DO IT AGAIN--AND IT HURTS SO MUCH--”

“do  _ what _ again?” Sans said dangerously, turning back to his brother.

Papyrus crossed his legs tightly.

Sans stared at him. “he’s… has he been…  _ raping  _ you?” he asked quietly.

Papyrus nodded slowly. “E-every time I’m bad… or if he just wants to… y-yesterday it was because y-you talked to him and that you knew something was w-wrong… I don’t want to know what he’ll do to me for telling you but it’s going to hurt even worse and I--I don’t want to, don’t make me--” Papyrus was really just blubbering gibberish at this point, and as angry as Sans was, he decided Mettaton’s destruction would have to wait. He pulled his brother into his arms and embraced him tightly, never wanting to let go.

“thank you for telling me. we’re gonna get you out of there, i promise.”

Papyrus only whimpered, burying himself in Sans’s jacket, staining it with tears.

Sans didn’t even know how he felt anymore. He was beyond angry at Mettaton, angry at the world, angry at Papyrus for keeping this from him. He could feel his brother’s pain almost as deeply as if it were he that was the victim, and the mix and strength of all his emotions were melting into an empty hole of numb apathy. He couldn’t really feel himself anymore. He was just… there. Existing.


	3. Chapter 3

As much as she and Sans wanted to murder Mettaton for what he did, Undyne decided she’d better tell Alphys first. Sans had been accompanying Papyrus everywhere like a bodyguard. Undyne invited her girlfriend over as soon as Sans told her what had happened, and Alphys had just now arrived, looking anxious.

“U-Undyne? You sounded really upset… what’s the matter?”

“It’s your fucking idiot robot, Alphys,” Undyne growled. “Do you know what he’s been doing to Papyrus?”

Alphys shrank back, shaking her head, afraid of the answer.

“He’s been RAPING him! He’s been hurting him! And it took  _ every  _ piece of strength I had to tell you first instead of going and  _ destroying  _ him myself!” Undyne shouted angrily.

Alphys’s eyes widened. “W-what?” She squeaked. “H-he’s been… doing that? To Papyrus? Oh my god… I didn’t know… I’m so sorry, I’ll go and talk to Mettaton--”

“NO! You can’t TALK to him! You have to DUST him!” Undyne said. “Or, preferably, give Sans and I permission to rip his metal limbs apart ourselves first!”

Alphys sat down shakily, putting her hands over her face. “It’s m-my fault… I’m the one that made him, if I hadn’t made him or if I had made him differently this would never have happened--” She sniffled. “And now Papyrus is hurt because of me and because of what I did, just like so many of the other people I hurt--”

Undyne took a deep breath to calm herself down and sat down beside Alphys. “It’s not your fault,” She said. “You couldn’t have known. And you only made his body anyway, what he chose to do with it doesn’t have anything to with you--”

“But that’s just it, I  _ did  _ make his body! If--if I had made him with no limbs or no… why did I give him a... just because I wanted it to be just like a human body… and the worst thing is that I don’t even  _ want _ to destroy him!” Alphys sobbed. “I worked so hard on making him corporeal and I love him but now I know he’s done such awful things… I’m such a horrible person for not wanting him gone…”

“No, you’re not,” Undyne said. “That’s… that’s what an abusive relationship is. Papyrus still loves Mettaton even after all the things he’s done to him. He hates what’s happened to him, but he still loves the part of Mettaton that  _ doesn’t  _ abuse him.”

“I… I guess that makes sense,” Alphys sighed. “He... He needs to be gone... forever.”

“Good,” Undyne said. “So can Sans and I tear him apart now?”

“N-no!” Alphys said. “I… we should take this to Asgore. He can decide what to d-do.”

Undyne sighed. She had no problem with dusting the little prick herself, but she knew he still meant a lot to Alphys. “Okay. I guess we can get to him pretty fast being part of the royal staff, right?”

“Yeah… I guess so. I’ll go right now. I’m not sure how busy he is, but he’ll understand that it’s important.” She put her face in her hands. “What do you think is going to happen to him…? Will he really be... dusted…?”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry Alph,” Undyne murmured, pulling Alphys into her arms. “I wish there was another way, for your sake, but he did something really bad, and he’s going to keep doing it and worse if we don’t do something about it.”

“I know…”

“And don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s not your fault, you hear me?”

Alphys nodded shakily, although both of them knew she didn’t believe it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Includes more detail about the rape.

Mettaton’s trial wasn’t a quiet one. Being a celebrity, news of his actions spread pretty quickly. This made Papyrus quite the celebrity, too, as the victim, but for once in his life, he didn’t want the attention or fame or popularity. Mettaton’s fans seemed to feel betrayed that their idol had done such a thing, and they instead began looking to Papyrus. Eventually the hype went down, although there were still  _ some _ monsters that didn’t seem to understand the insensitivity of paparazzi to a victim of sexual assault. Sans took care of them.

After the whole thing, Papyrus still had trouble… living. He wanted Sans with him everywhere he went, which was unreasonable, but Sans did it anyway. He was grateful to have his brother. 

Sans didn’t always understand what Papyrus needed from him, but he tried his best. Sans had pretty much stopped caring about his own life much at all. He was there for Papyrus from now on, or at least until he healed. All he wanted was to stick to his brother like glue and hold him and comfort him every time he needed it, but sometimes Papyrus accepted the touch, and sometimes he jerked away from it. Sans learned that Papyrus liked firmer, more obvious contact, which he could see made sense. Lighter and more subtle touches felt too intimate and too much like the very thing Papyrus had been trying to get away from. He needed a warning, too. A firm hug without a warning was just as bad, because he felt like he was about to be slammed down against the nearest surface and taken advantage of again. 

Sans had taken over running the house since everything went down. It was different, having to go back to doing everything like when Papyrus was a child, when he had gotten used to doing next to nothing. He hardly noticed, though. He just wanted to take care of his brother, no matter how much tomato sauce he got on his face or boiling salt water splashed in his eye. Papyrus was proud of Sans’s developing talent for cooking, if not a little jealous. Even though he wasn’t eating very much, he still recognized the quality.

What Papyrus hated most of all was that he  _ missed _ Mettaton, alot, and even though he wasn’t living in constant fear and anxiety anymore, he felt lonely without him. Sure, he had his brother, and Undyne, and Alphys, and he appreciated them all more than he could say, but it wasn’t the same. Besides, Mettaton hadn’t  _ always  _ been like that. When they first started dating, Papyrus was enamored by his flamboyant confidence that rivaled his own. He was funny, talented, and sweet, at first. Not to mention, he was hot as hell, and Papyrus had already thought so  _ before  _ Metta’s new body. At first, everything had been great. They had fun together, watching cheesy romance movies, cooking together, chatting about their dreams for the future. Papyrus still remembered their first kiss. It was his first kiss ever, and it was pretty awkward considering he had no lips, but they made it work. Really, it was more of Mettaton kissing  _ him _ , but he was okay with it. More than okay apparently, considering his knees had buckled and he had nearly fallen to the floor before Mettaton caught him by the waist, laughing. 

Things only started going south when Mettaton wanted to go further and Papyrus didn’t. It was after a night of drinks and dancing with their friends. Papyrus didn’t drink, but Metta was drunk enough for his morals to be flushed away. Papyrus escorted him home, but ended up staying longer than intended once Mettaton advanced on him. It was okay at first, although Papyrus didn’t much enjoy the taste of alcohol on Mettaton’s lips. But then he felt something stiff poke at his pelvis and he tensed up, backing away a little. Mettaton had pulled him back in, slipping his fingers under the hem of Papyrus’s trousers teasingly. Papyrus backed away again, but suddenly, Mettaton’s patience was lost. He had slammed Papyrus against the wall and yanked his clothes off, pressing himself against him. Papyrus kept struggling and pleading, but to no avail. 

He only stopped struggling when he was slapped across the face for it. He went limp, looking at the ground, knowing he had no choice. He let himself be carried to the bed, let Mettaton climb on top of him, and have his way. God, it hurt. He had no idea how this felt good to people. It was agonizing. But he just laid there, his eyes squeezed shut, tears streaming down his cheeks, his hands balled into fists as he tried to keep quiet from the pain, his soul squirming in resistance. Fortunately, the actual deed didn’t last very long, but the soreness stayed. He continued to lie there whimpering, staring at the ceiling as his boyfriend settled down next to him and kissed him goodnight like nothing had happened. 

He didn’t sleep at all that night. He kept telling himself it was just the alcohol, that Mettaton would never do something like this to him in his right mind. But his cling to an excuse was lost the next morning when Mettaton behaved as though nothing had gone wrong. He said he’d had a good time last night and hoped they could do it again sometime, in that sly, flirty voice he always used. Papyrus tried to talk to him about what he did, but Mettaton brushed it off. “You’ll learn to enjoy it, love,” he had said. “But until then, don’t go telling anyone, all right? If you do, well… you definitely  _ won’t  _ enjoy what happens then.”

And so it had begun. The seemingly endless cycle of pain, fear, and dread. But he still hoped, every time, that maybe today Mettaton would just be okay with watching a movie or something. And sometimes he was. But most of the time, he’d end up dragging Papyrus into  _ something _ he hadn’t consented to. Whether it was sticking his hand down Papyrus’s pants, or forcing himself into Papyrus’s mouth until he choked, or actually penetrating him, it was awful any way it happened.

Sometimes his body reacted differently to Mettaton’s touches. Sometimes it reacted positively, which Papyrus was horrified by because he  _ didn’t  _ want this, he  _ didn’t _ , and it  _ didn’t _ feel good, but it also  _ did? _ , but he still wanted to stop. The first time this had happened, he was hopeful. Mettaton said that he would learn to enjoy it. Maybe it was finally happening. But no, it was something different, something confusing. It felt good in a way that felt bad. It was like he wanted it, but in an alternate timeline or something. He’d be wanting it if Mettaton had just  _ asked _ him. He  _ wanted _ to like it. But as long as he had no control over the situation at all, he couldn’t.

Today, he was sitting on the couch, flipping through the television channels. He nearly dropped the remote when he came across a rerun of one of Mettaton’s shows. He wanted to change the channel, but he couldn’t somehow. He just kept staring at the screen, watching his ex-boyfriend dance and twirl and pose as he announced a new contestant for a talent show. He wanted to smile, but he couldn’t, and instead, he got the feeling that he was covered in dirt, dirt and insects, little creepy-crawlies that he could feel but not see, making him twitch and shiver. “SANS?” He called. “...CAN I TAKE ANOTHER SHOWER?”

His brother came from the kitchen, his hands covered in tomato juice, rubbing his skull tiredly and smearing some of it on his forehead in the process. “yeah. give me sec to finish the spaghetti.” He returned to the kitchen to finish the sauce, and put it and the noodles away in the fridge for later. He washed his hands and came back. “alright, c’mon.” he followed Papyrus into the bathroom, where Papyrus stepped behind the shower curtain and stripped his clothes off, turning the water on and just letting it pour over him, hoping it could get rid of the crawling, dirty feeling, at least for a little while. 

Sans sat on the floor to wait. He wanted to be with his brother everywhere, but he hadn’t thought that would include the bathroom. He had heard him call for him from the shower one day, and without second thought, he ran in there.

“SANS… CAN YOU JUST STAY IN HERE WITH ME? PLEASE?” his brother’s voice had whimpered from behind the curtain.

“uh, yeah. okay,” Sans replied, and slumped down to the floor to wait. He had done this ever since. He made sure there was nothing else important to finish first, because he never knew how long Papyrus would stay in there. Their water bill had gotten so high that he had tried to convince Papyrus to try a bath instead of a shower, but Papyrus had said that he would only be “sitting in the filth.” Sans was working multiple jobs to pay for it, and he just brought Papyrus along with him. It was exhausting, working so much, cooking the meals, and guarding Papyrus 24/7, but he didn’t mind. He’d do anything for his brother. He’d even moved his mattress into Papyrus’s room so that he wouldn’t have to be alone while he slept.  _ If  _ he slept, that is. If he couldn’t fall asleep, Sans would just read to him until he did. Sometimes it took ages, and Sans had to do everything he could to stay awake. 

On Sans’s one day off, Papyrus tried to keep to himself to let Sans sleep. He could tell how easy it would be for Sans to pass out as soon as he got home from work, and how he used all of his strength to stay awake and alert for Papyrus. Papyrus tried to help out when he could, because he felt horrible for making Sans work so hard to take care of his adult brother, but sometimes he could barely get out of bed.

“pap? how about meeting with undyne and alphys today? i think you need to get out some more,” Sans said through the running water.

“HM?” Papyrus stuck his head out. “OH… WELL… I GUESS SO.” He had been especially awkward around Alphys. It wasn’t exactly common to be friends with the creator of your rapist’s functioning, corporeal body, so he wasn’t really sure how to feel or act. He wasn’t angry at her, not at all, but he could tell that she was angry with herself, and he didn’t want the sight of him to trigger her self-doubt. 

“cool. we’ll meet up at undyne’s place in an hour or so.”

Papyrus shrank back underneath the water. Undyne’s house. Just a cave wall away from Mettaton’s old house. It was fine. He could do this. Damnit, he should be  _ over _ this by now. Mettaton had been gone for a month, Sans was always with him, there was nothing that could hurt him. But his mind refused to let go of that feeling, the feeling of cold, metal fingers sliding over him like cuffs in the shape of hands, a jail cell in the shape of a body. He shivered again, turning the water temperature up, hoping to burn the bacteria that was anxiety off of his bones.

“pap, you about done…?” Sans said after what felt like just a few minutes later. “it’s been almost an hour.”

“OH… SORRY…” Papyrus turned the now-cold water off, reaching out for a towel to dry off.

“i’m gonna get you some new clothes. you haven’t washed that thing in weeks.” Papyrus heard the door open and his brother’s footsteps fading away, and he leaned against the shower wall with a sigh. This was stupid. A month and he was still acting like it had just happened. Because he  _ remembered  _ it like it had just happened. He could feel it as if it were happening right now. He knew the showers didn’t work very well, but it was all he could think to try.

“here,” Sans’s voice came, followed by a shirt and a pair of jeans flying through the curtain.

Papyrus caught them and dropped his towel to get dressed, emerging from the shower a few moments later. “I SUPPOSE WE NEED TO LEAVE SOON TO GO TO UNDYNE’S?”

Sans nodded. “yep. might as well go now, if you’re ready.”

“ALRIGHT,” Papyrus said, figuring that waiting a few minutes more would only be delaying the inevitable. He took Sans’s hand and they teleported away.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Alphys was trying to stave off a mental breakdown.

“Alph, relax, he’s not mad at you, so what does it matter?” Undyne was saying.

“What does it matter?! I-I’m the one who made it possible for Mettaton to even  _ do  _ those things! Whether he’s mad at me or not, I know I did it, I know I had a part in it, and that makes it my fault, and--”

“Hey, look at me. What did we talk about?” Undyne said sternly, crossing her arms.

“Th-that it’s not my f-fault,” Alphys whimpered.

“And?”

“That I sh-shouldn’t blame myself for it…”

“And?”

“A-and... that you and Papyrus and Sans and everyone else will still love me no matter what.”

“Good,” Undyne said, kissing her cheek. “Now toughen up, they should be here soon.”

On cue, there was a knock at the door, and Undyne jogged over to open it. “Hey Sans. Hey bud, how’ve you been?” She said to Papyrus, smiling at him. “I, uh… haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I’VE BEEN FINE, THANK YOU,” Papyrus said stiffly.

_ ‘he’s not been fine,’ _ Sans mouthed to Undyne, causing Papyrus to elbow him.

“SANS, I CAN SPEAK FOR MYSELF!” Papyrus said indignantly, although he didn’t elaborate on his feelings any further.

Sans shrugged, putting his hands up in surrender. “alright, alright. so you gonna let us in undyne, or what?”

Undyne stepped aside quickly. “Sorry, yeah, come on in.” Once she had shut the door behind them she returned to sit beside Alphys, knowing this was going to be an ordeal. 

“HI, ALPHYS,” Papyrus said politely, but awkwardly. He hadn’t seen Alphys very much since learning about Mettaton’s trial, but every time they did see each other, Alphys would look away.

“H-hi, Papyrus,” Alphys squeaked. “Um… it’s… it’s nice to see you.”

“YEAH… IT’S NICE TO SEE YOU TOO,” Papyrus replied just as timidly.

There was an uncomfortable few moments of silence before Undyne stood up. “Alright, I’ve had enough of this weirdness. Look, you two, you’ve got some stuff to sort out, and we’re gonna sort it out right now.”

“Th-there’s nothing to sort out,” Alphys said.

“That’s a load of bullshit and you know it. I’ll be the one to say it out loud then: Papyrus was raped by a monster that Alphys built a body for. Talk about it.”

Papyrus and Alphys looked at each other uncertainly before Papyrus finally decided to speak.

“ALPHYS… I’M NOT MAD AT YOU. BUT I KNOW YOU’RE MAD AT YOURSELF, AND I DON’T WANT THAT. WE CAN ALL SAY THAT IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT ALL DAY LONG, BUT IT WON’T MAKE YOU BELIEVE IT. SO ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I’M NOT MAD AT YOU, I DON’T BLAME YOU, AND I STILL WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND.”

Alphys bit her lip. “I’m… I’m sorry I’ve been so weird… I just... I can’t believe he would do that…”

“well he did,” Sans said hotly, and Alphys’s gaze dropped back to the floor.

“SANS,” Papyrus reprimanded. 

“I’m so sorry Papyrus… it’s all my--”

“DON’T SAY IT’S YOUR FAULT. IT’S NOT. AND I THINK EVERYONE HERE AGREES WITH ME,” Papyrus said firmly. He kicked Sans’s foot subtly to make him nod in agreement. 

Sans knew it was unreasonable, but he couldn’t help blaming Alphys at least a little. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t her fault, but his anger wanted to imagine alternate timelines where Mettaton never had a body capable of such things like the one Alphys had made him.

“uh, yeah. it’s not like you told him to do any of that stuff. he did it on his own.”

“See? That’s just what I’ve been saying,” Undyne said to Alphys. “To the rest of us, he might seem like just a robot because that’s all we knew him as, but you knew him before he had that body. He was a monster like the rest of us, not a computer program. He had complete control over his own actions and morals. You should know that better than anyone. You didn’t program his personality or anything, because he’s not technically a robot, he was just in a robot’s body.”

Alphys nodded weakly. “Y-yeah… I guess so…”

“Cool. Now hug it out!” Undyne shouted, shooting up to her feet and bringing Alphys and Papyrus with her, smashing them together.

“OW--”

“Oof--”

Undyne let them go a moment later, naive to her own overenthusiasm. “Great! Can we all be normal now?”

“it’s not that simple, Undyne,” Sans said quietly.

They were all silent for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“M-maybe we should go out and do something together!” Alphys suggested. “Of course it’ll be awkward just s-sitting here… let’s do something fun!”

Undyne nodded. “Yeah! Haven’t you been meaning to show Papyrus that new season of Mew Mew?” If anything would disintegrate Alphys’s awkwardness, it would be talking about anime.

“UM… OKAY!” Papyrus said, even though he knew he’d probably be unintentionally tuning it all out.

Alphys’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Yeah! Wait a second, I’ll get it!” She scurried off to find it.

Sans was quiet, not really having any feelings about this. He’d probably just fall asleep anyway.

Alphys returned a few moments later and popped the DVD into the player, settling back excitedly. “This one is a lot better than the second one. The second one was trash but this one tried to fix everything. Still not as good as the original first season, but still worth the watch.”

After a few episodes, Sans was asleep, and Undyne was in the kitchen making some tea, leaving Papyrus and Alphys alone. 

“Papyrus… um… how do you feel?” Alphys asked softly.

Papyrus looked over at her, slightly taken aback as he was jerked out of his thoughts. “UM… ABOUT WHAT?”

“You know what,” Alphys said quietly. “What was it like…? I-I mean, you don’t have to t-tell me if you’re not comfortable, I just- I want to understand more.”

Papyrus was silent for a moment. “IT FELT… LIKE A BAD DREAM,” he said eventually. “THE FIRST TIME, ANYWAY. I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT WAS HAPPENING. HE WAS BEING SO DIFFERENT. IT FELT LIKE IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FLUKE OR SOMETHING. BUT THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN. AND IT KEPT HAPPENING. AND I HAD TO ACCEPT THAT IT WASN’T A BAD DREAM, IT WAS REAL. I WAS… SCARED OF HIM. I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME IF I TRIED TO FIGHT OR IF I TOLD SOMEONE. BUT I KNEW THAT I SHOULD TELL SOMEONE. I JUST COULDN’T. I FELT... EMBARRASSED, AND ASHAMED. THAT I WAS EVEN  _ LETTING  _ HIM DO THAT TO ME. I KEEP THINKING ABOUT HOW I COULD’VE STOPPED IT EARLIER IF I HAD JUST TOLD SOMEONE RIGHT AWAY, BUT I FELT LIKE THEY WOULDN’T BELIEVE ME, OR THEY’D SHAME ME FOR LETTING IT HAPPEN… I FELT… DISGUSTING.”

Alphys was looking at the floor. “I’m so sorry, Papyrus. I wish… I wish we could’ve stopped it sooner. H-how long had it been going on? And… why did you keep going back to him?”

“A FEW MONTHS,” Papyrus said softly. “AND IT WAS BECAUSE I HAD TO. I FELT LIKE I HAD TO. IT WAS THE SAME REASON I DIDN’T PUT UP A FIGHT. I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HE WOULD DO TO ME IF I DIDN’T COMPLY WITH WHAT HE WANTED. BUT THAT’S THE THING. I  _ KNOW  _ I COULD’VE STOPPED IT. I COULD’VE AND I DIDN’T. AND IT MAKES ME FEEL HORRIBLE, I MEAN, WHAT IF I ACTUALLY WANTED IT TO HAPPEN? WHAT IF I WANTED TO LET HIM HURT ME SO I COULD GET ATTENTION? I JUST FEEL SO  _ STUPID _ FOR NOT SAYING ANYTHING…”

“You’re not stupid,” Alphys said. “It’s not your fault. And… and it’s not my fault either. It’s  _ his _ fault. It’s only his fault.”

Papyrus nodded slowly. “Okay,” He said in a whisper, and leaned into the hug Alphys gave him. A few moments later he felt heavy, skeletal arms wrap around him from behind, and he looked over to see Sans hugging him too.

“I sensed trauma,” his brother mumbled sleepily, resting his head against Papyrus’s back, and Papyrus smiled softly.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Undyne’s voice came, before Papyrus felt her join the group hug.

“I LOVE YOU GUYS,” he murmured.

A hum of various “love you too”s replied to him, and he shut his eyes and relaxed into his friends’ embrace, feeling content for the first time in a while.


End file.
